The S&P 500 fell less than 0.1 percent to 1,562.37 at 9:55 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.39 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 14,614.87. Trading in the S&P 500 was in line with the 30-day average during this time of day.

“The market just keeps pushing forward,” Mark Freeman, who oversees about $14 billion as chief investment officer at Westwood Holdings Group Inc. in Dallas, said in a phone interview. “As we go into earnings season, it’s going to be very interesting and important to see exactly whether or not this resiliency is sustained and ultimately supported by what companies report from an earnings perspective.”

U.S. stocks rallied yesterday as investors speculated first-quarter earnings would help equities rally. Income at S&P 500 companies probably fell 1.8 percent in the first three months of the year, the first year-over-year drop since 2009, analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg show.

Alcoa Results

Alcoa, the first company in the Dow to release results this season, reported first-quarter earnings that exceeded analysts’ estimates while revenue trailed projections. The company cited lower metal prices and the impact of smelter curtailments in Spain and Italy for the decline in sales. The shares rose 0.2 percent to $8.41.

“Analyst estimates might be a little pessimistic at this point,” Eric Teal, chief investment officer at First Citizens BancSharesInc., which manages $4.5 billion in Raleigh, North Carolina, said in a phone interview. “Earnings will have the potential to surprise on the upside.”

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A report from China showed inflation eased last month from a 10-month high, reducing pressure on policy makers to tighten credit as the economy recovers. The country’s consumer price index rose 2.1 percent in March from a year earlier. That trailed the 2.5 percent median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

The S&P 500 has more than doubled from its 12-year low in March 2009, helped by the Federal Reserve’s unprecedented bond purchases and three straight years of profit growth. The index climbed to an all-time high of 1,570.25 on April 2.

‘Additional Support’

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said in a speech yesterday that economic conditions were far from where he would like them to be. Monetary stimulus in advanced economies “is providing additional support for other countries through stronger financial markets, more exports,” he said in response to an audience question.

Cliffs Natural Resources, the largest U.S. iron-ore miner, added 3.8 percent to $19.51. A gauge of European commodity stocks rallied the most in a month, leading gains on the region’s benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index.

Corrections Corp. of America rose 2.3 percent to $38.85. The largest private prison contractor in the U.S. announced a special dividend of $6.63 per share.

J.C. Penney Co. fell 9.7 percent to $14.33. The Plano, Texas-based chain said Johnson would be replaced by former CEO Myron E. Ullman III. The company, which has suffered a 25 percent annual sales decline, may have to consider selling itself or breaking up, said Dave Larcker, a corporate governance professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in Stanford, California.

“The board is going to have to get much more involved in the strategy of the company,” Larcker said. “People may attack the board, as well, for how this happened. This was a high-profile hire. For it to unravel this quickly is kind of terrifying.”